Rihad's log

What you are espousing is not 'HST'. You've removed half of the periodisation.

All you're doing is cutting the program short because you're afraid of heavy weights. Without chemical assistance, you aren't reaching your full genetic potential using your 10RM. The muscle you gain from your particular style of periodisation will be enough to prevent micro-damage after a certain point. You would have to increase your SD times to become responsive again, at which point you'll start to atrophy and 'treading water' is the outcome.

Assuming your 10RM does gradually increase (and apparently at a rate slow enough not to scare you), all you've really accomplished is a drastically slower version of HST.

5's and negatives have always been a part of HST.

It's a basic strength training routine that utilises a block periodisation model, adds in SD (vs a tradtional deload) and doesn't focus on the 'big 3' but rather on bb'ing coverage.
 
This is simply your opinion, which isn't Bryan's. Everyone has their own opinion, even a guardian at the kings's gate has one.

19.1. Isn't SD just a form of "periodization"?

There is one traditional concept with its associated methods and practices that often make HST
appear to be like previous programs. That is the concept of “periodization”.

We will only briefly discuss the topic of periodization, as only a brief treatise will be sufficient
to show the differences between periodization and HST. For more detailed discussions of
periodization you are advised to read "Super Training: Special Strength Training for Sporting
Excellence" by Siff & Verkhoshansky, "Special Strength Training" by Verkhoshansky,
"Fundamentals of Sport Training" by Matveyev and "Science and Practice of Strength
Training" by Zatsiorski.

Traditional concepts of periodization are based on methods used to manipulate intensity (i.e.
work and/or load), volume and frequency in order to manage CNS fatigue and adaptability in
athletes. To date, the art of periodization has entered the mathematical age and significant
progress is being made in modeling systems designed to predict CNS fatigue and changes in the
individual’s fitness level. (1,2,3). Once an individual familiarizes him or herself with the true
concept of periodization, they will immediately see the difference between Strategic
Deconditioning and Periodization for strength training.

For example, here are a few differences between SD and Periodization:

- SD is used to decrease fitness level (A.K.A. conditioning).
- Periodization is used to increase fitness level.

- SD is used to increase the micro trauma associated with training.
- Periodization is used to decrease the trauma associated with training.

- SD is used to reduce work capacity.
- Periodization is used to increase work capacity.

- SD is applied irrespective of the need for “rest”.
- Periodization is applied according to the need for rest.

- SD is not based on “peaking” performance.
- Periodization’s sole purpose is to allow the athlete to peak (strength/performance) on a
specific date.
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HST has nothing to do with periodization and has everything to do with gradual load progression starting with SD and minimum effective load. Where you stop and keep repeating the loads is left to be determined. Some people have chosen to stop at 8RM, mine will probably be 7-8RM after having successfully completed 10 reps in set one and increased the load further for the next w/o. Solely for maintaining enough volume for muscle growth and not dragging the workout by too much. Also, adding 25-30+kg body weight above height in cm minus 98-100 at contest lean level is *not* what gaining muscle should be about, whatever you may be thinking. It's much easier to eat than NOT to eat. What you're doing is low rep strength training and has nothing to do with HST, you just happen to keep your training log on the same board.
 
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Re: periodisation comparison - "A rose by any other name". "Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, waddles like a duck ... it's probably a duck". The purposes of the distinction in load and volume don't change the fundamental structure of the routine.



I definitely don't do anything resembling HST at the moment, other than progressive overload. Two cycles of it are pegged in for the start of next year, minus the 15s - cos 15s suck.
 
Also, check out Mike Tuscherer's work on RPEs. If Bryan came up w/HST today, I'm convinced he would include RPE's as a mediating method for the volume factor.
 
I'm convinced you haven't read Bryan's papers. He mentions "perceived effort" as part of CNS training, which has to do with strength.

7.4. HIT or HD
To understand any comparisons to HIT or HD use the following definitions:
Intensity = percentage of voluntary strength. In HIT terms it is equal to “perceived effort”.
Maximum capability - maximum voluntary strength

HST does not equal HIT. Except perhaps that they both have an H and a T in their acronyms.
- HIT's measuring stick is based on strength (performance).
- HST's measuring stick is based on growth (size).
- HIT is based on how hard it feels to lift a weight.
- HST is based on progressively loading the tissue.
- HIT's goal is fatigue.
- HST's goal is hypertrophy.
- HIT is based on a philosophy of stress.
- HST is based on the physiology of muscle cells.
- HIT came from the imagination of Mr. Jones.
- HST came from the research of dozens of independent researchers.

Understand that it is not necessary to train at 100% voluntary strength levels to stimulate
"growth". This is one fundamental difference between Hypertrophy-Specific Training (HST)
and HIT. HST is designed only to stimulate growth. Strength of course will increase as well
during HST training but this is not the primary goal of the method. It isn't necessary to push
against a weight that won't move (due to load or fatigue) to induce the necessary strain to
muscle that leads to growth.

After years of training I realized that I would never get any bigger training the way I was unless
I could get stronger, but I couldn't get any stronger until I got bigger. I had to discover a way to
get bigger without getting stronger first. The HST method allows a person to get bigger before
they get stronger. Accomplishing this is dependent on frequent loading (hitting same muscle at
least 3 times per week), rapid progression in loading (mandatory increase in weight every
workout), and Strategic Deconditioning (a week or so completely off to allow the muscle to
become vulnerable to the training stimulus).

HIT training takes this "deconditioning" too far. They think the muscle is "recovering" when it
is actually past recovery and beginning to decondition thus allowing the stimulus to work the
next time the muscle is trained. Unfortunately, the rate of growth is greatly dependant on the
frequency of the stimulus. So with HST you hit a muscle at least 3 times as often as with HIT,
and growth is greatly accelerated.
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Gosh, the official HST board is so full of non-believers Then who needs HST if we can simply pick any decent strength training routine aimed at increasing the load on the bar.
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Not at all! But, even with HST, the load does have to get higher over time if you are to sustain progress. I will be very interested to see if you can show this doesn't apply in your case.
To my way of thinking, you can reach the degree of hypertrophy you are ever likely to achieve by taking one of several different currently available routes. However, I still think that the quickest way to make progress in the hypertrophy department will be through application of the principles outlined by Bryan for HST all those years ago. And optimisations will most likely be necessary, the more advanced a trainee becomes.
 
Mike T uses RPE's and fatigue stops primarily, I feel, because he is working with high intensity loads for much of his training. He's not really trying to get bigger any more; he's trying to maximise CNS recruitment patterns and lifting efficiency etc.
 
Lol, logically speaking, once a muscle grows bigger as a result of having been put under a load it hasn't seen, so does the load required to trigger further growth. There's no way we can use the same load to make a (now) bigger muscle grow. This is the reason we can't grow our legs past a certain point by doing 50kg squats. I just don't expect the load required to sustain muscle growth to be MUCH above what used to be enough at some point in the past. Meaning, if pecs grew when we started doing bench presses using 40-ish kg on our first days of training, then why should we attempt a 120kg lift if our pecs don't look like they have grown to be 3 times bigger since then?
 
HST_Rihad said:
I'm convinced you haven't read Bryan's papers. He mentions "perceived effort" as part of CNS training, which has to do with strength.
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I've read them, and even applying the expression 'tip of the iceberg' would be too complimentary - that isn't a criticism of Bryan at all, I don't expect someone to be a master of literally everything. HST will works on a %-1RM with set-rep matrix paradigm ... and that's out of date.
 
Jester said:
I've read them, and even applying the expression 'tip of the iceberg' would be too complimentary - that isn't a criticism of Bryan at all, I don't expect someone to be a master of literally everything. HST will works on a %-1RM with set-rep matrix paradigm ... and that's out of date.
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You crack me up...
 
Jester said:
Not a lot left to cut ... ?
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I don't really know, it's hard for me to predict anything when my abs are at ~20mm while arms, chest, thighs are at 4-6mm... I still need to lose a decent amount of fat from my ab/waist/midsection area, probably reaching 6% or something overall (as measured by J/P-7). There will be no more blood bulk after that :) Maintaining lean looks while progressing in your training is cool. How much I weigh is a function of how much I eat, so I will try to gradually increase the base food I eat daily by small bits while not sacrificing leanness at the same time. The idea is to increase the base BW occasionally by +0.5kg and wait until the extra food settles in, gets recomped as lean mass gains.
 
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